This invention relates to an apparatus for automatically brewing and dispensing single cup quantities of coffee or other beverages through a vending machine.
There are a myriad of prior art patents and publications that relate to single cup or pod brewing of beverages, particularly coffee, and perhaps others such as tea, hot chocolate, or the like.
Existing machines accept a sealed beverage cartridge or capsule, usually referred to as a capsule, as formed into a cup shaped housing, and generally being manually sealed within a vertically adjustable lid, wherein the cup can be pierced by both a liquid inlet, and a liquid outlet, so that usually hot water can be delivered to the capsule, brew the beverage, and then deliver it through the outlet to a cup or other container. Examples of these types of capsule or cartridge patents can be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,189, disclosing a Beverage Filter Cartridge. A related type of cartridge is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,765, also upon a Beverage Filter Cartridge.
Usually, such existing machines also include a lid, usually that is manually manipulated, and which incorporates a piercing penetrator or needle, that can deliver hot water to the internals of the capsule, and is also pierced by a second needle, that can withdraw the brewed beverage. These provide the means for the flow of hot water into the capsule, and its removal as brewed beverage therefrom. Usually, these apparatuses require manual participation, the physical manipulation of the lid into an opened position, removal of a spent capsule, reapplying a fresh and new capsule, manually manipulating the lid into closure, to initiate the operations of the brewing apparatus. Most of these types of brewing mechanisms are designed for household usage, and do not lend themselves towards automation that can be incorporated within vending machines, to serve a single cup of brewed beverage, such as coffee, as can be obtained from the current invention.
The prior art housings are further provided with a venting probe, that is mounted in the bottom of the housing, and provides, as stated, the means for the liquid to flow out of the cartridge or the capsule, after brewing. At the start of a brewing cycle, the capsule is forced down upon the top of the holder, which is supported by a spring or springs, and movably support a housing, with the venting probe penetrating the bottom portion of the capsule, that provides the means for the beverage to vent and a path for liquid to flow, of the brewed beverage, into a cup or container. Following this, in these prior art devices, the lid is then lowered onto the cartridge, and the upper probe then pierces the top of the capsule, and when sealed, provides a path for the introduction of hot liquid into the cartridge, to commence the brewing of a beverage. Following a brew cycle, the lid must be manually reopened, to remove the capsule prior to initiating another cycle.
Examples of prior art patents that disclose these types of machines can be seen in the patent upon Beverage Filter Cartridge Holder, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,315.
The Beverage Filter Cartridge Holder, for use in a brewing machine, of the prior art, can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,554.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,938 shows a Two Step Puncturing and Venting of Single Serve Filter Cartridge in a Beverage Brewer. This prior art patent describes various components within its single serve beverage brewer such as a platen, the shifting of the platen, the platen being moved between a raised position, and a lowered position, in which its inlet probe pierces the lid of the shown cartridge. In addition, the specific method of operation of this particular brewer is that a tubular outlet probe initially pierces to vent the cartridge interior, usually through its bottom, and then the cartridge is pierced on top with a tubular inlet probe, during the sequence of its operations. Once again, this particular brewer does not appear to be an automated type of brewer, which can be used in a vending machine, but appears to describe a more domestic form of brewer.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,260 does disclose a Beverage Filter Cartridge Holder, which appears to be more automated, in its operations. This device appears to incorporate a lid that is mounted for manipulation between its opened position for accommodating insertion and removal of its cartridge, and a closed position confining the cartridge within its housing. It appears that this device uses some type of a slidable drawer that can open or close for insertion or removal of its cartridge. Apparently, also, it requires positioning means upon the cartridge for cooperating with a locating means to furnish positioning of the cartridge within its apparatus in preparation for a brewing operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,130 shows a Baffle Operated Liquid Heating and Dispensing System for a Single Serve Beverage Brewer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,200 shows a System for Monitoring and Controlling the Operation of a Single Serve Beverage Brewer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,600 shows a Puncturing and Venting of Single Serve Beverage Filter Cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,488 shows a manually operated Brew Chamber for a Single Serve Beverage Brewer, which incorporates a manually operated arm to attain its setup.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,137 shows an Espresso Coffeemaker with Removable Water Reservoir as a related type of apparatus that includes a manually operative handle to attain its setup.
A similar type of structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,192, showing a Beverage Forming Device with Opening/Closing Mechanism for a Beverage Cartridge Receiver, which incorporates related structure. It is just not seen how that type of structure could be incorporated into a vending machine, for producing a single cup brewed beverage from a once used cartridge.
An early embodiment of the current style of invention that use specifically for brewing a beverage is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,401, on a single cup pod beverage brewer. This particular device, which is a related predecessor to the current invention, utilized different structure for brewing a beverage from utilization of a pod, which is a type of container for holding coffee grounds or tea leaves, that is surrounded by filter paper formed in a disc-like shape. While related to the current invention, the invention described herein requires substantially different structure for processing a cup or capsule, not a pod, and to secure it in position while it is pierced by probes, both a top and bottom probe, in the preparation and while sustaining the brewing of a beverage from a cup, as distinct from a pod. This is subsequently described herein in the summary of this current invention.
The present invention improves upon the aforementioned machines and methods by providing a means to automatically pierce and seal the upper portion of a capsule, and that once that occurs, the seal continues to maintain closure on the top of the capsule, through its supporting springs, prior to the lowering of the capsule into the holder, at which time air or other gaseous material is introduced into the capsule by means of a pump means, to maintain the structural integrity of the capsule, and then secondarily and subsequently the bottom of the capsule is pierced in order to vent the bottom and remove the brewed beverage, from the capsule, during its brewing cycle. Then, the spent capsule can be automatically removed and disposed of without any manual participation, or the use of any lifting handle, as done in the prior art. Essentially, the principal concept of this invention is to provide an automatic brewing and dispensing single cup coffee brewer, that may be generally incorporated within a vending machine, for automatic usage and operation. All the purchaser or user need do is to press the proper buttons, to obtain a single cup brewed beverage from a singular filter or capsule.